justice for all

Task 15: Temps lié (Investigation w/Tsubaki & Eiji)

Naomi had found nothing of interest in the bakery, so when she heard Ei yell out, she headed over to take a look at whatever they’d discovered. As she did, however, a crunching sound made her stop in her tracks. Lifting her crutch, she discovered some sort of colorful substance stuck to the bottom - and there was more of it scattered across the floor of the Gilded Court in chunks. Chunks that smelled like sugar.

“What the h-”

Then it hit her. Naomi was certain she knew what this stuff had come from.

“Hey! That big candy sword back in the mall is made of something like this, isn’t it? So…did it get broken?”

It didn’t explain what the pieces were doing in this part of the station, and she wasn’t sure what it had to do with them finding Shizuka’s sword blade - yet. But she was definitely getting the feeling that they were close to figuring out something important.

“Ei - could you maybe check around the place where you found that blade some more? I’m gonna go get Tsubaki again, too.”

With that, she speedily hobbled into Electric Dim Sum. Tsubaki was in the process of poking around the kitchen, and it seemed like she’d found several more pieces of evidence. Naomi noted the sharp chemical smell coming from the sink as she approached the other girl, as well as the scratched-up freezer door.

“Tsubaki? There’s bits of candy all over the floor in the food court, so I just asked Ei to go take another look by that bin where the sword blade was. …Do you think a big hunk of jawbreaker could snap a sword like that if you hit it the right way?”

The bits of candy struck them clueless. More than before. Not that they would ever admit that, not in their current state at least. Nothing seemed to add up… so far. They wondered if it would have been easier if they were with the others instead. Then, that would mean leaving Naomi and Tsubaki all alone. That’s… sad. Sad and pitiful. Would they have worked faster? Pssh, nonsense. With them on their team, they’re ten times better.

As they rocked back and forth from their spot on the floor, Ei didn’t turn a single bit to face Naomi. Eyeing the candies suspiciously instead, as if the pieces would move if they looked away for just a second.

“I’unno, don’t ask me! I’m no effin’ candyologist expert person-fessor.”

“Hey, watch it, Naomi. You don’t wanna mess with this, do ya? Can’t go bossin’ me ‘round…”

They completely ignored her choice of words. It sounded more like a polite request than an order but that didn’t get across to them at all. They did nod in approval at hearing their correct name. Good. Smart move.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll do that, real quick too! I’ll be back in no time, go do your… thing! Mind the blade that’s stickin’ ‘round over there too. Don’t want anymore deaths, huh?”

Ei waved their hand bladewards, then skipped their way back to the garbage disposal, almost hypnotized by the LEDs through the Golden Connector.

Back to the… kind of start. No worries, they’ve got this in the bag. Monobear could be dozing off right about now. Lots of time left, they think… Once more, they open the bins and peer inside them, just to check, then around the area’s floor. Would it be worth it to rip open a garbage bag? What if they find… garbage?

#response #naomi #eiji #chapter 4 #chapter 4 investigation #i speak

Tsubaki seemed to snap out of a reverie when she finally heard Naomi addressing her, flinching back in surprise like she hadn’t noticed the other girl come in. Before her gaze had been fixed on the sink but now she looked up with a baffled expression.

“C...candy? What’re you saying, someone tried to...fight Gozen-jukeisha with that jawbreaker sword from the store? And then they won? ...No, I don’t think that’s what happened at all. Even if it is Monobear that gave it, it’s still...just candy against a sword, and actually fighting her, physically, one on one...why would anyone do that? I guess that still begs the question...where that candy came from, I guess.”

“All this stuff around, none of it makes any sense! It should be easier than this!” Finally turning away from the sink, she grabbed Naomi’s wrist with a sudden surge of energy and started off back to Gold where Ei had apparently gone...Electrum at the moment felt pretty picked-over, and these bits of evidence had given her an idea of where to go next.

“I didn’t really...I mean, I’m not sure what that stuff in the sink was, but if you look at all the stores, then...I think we should check out the makeup store? And then the candy place, obviously. While they’re working.”

Back through the connector again...she was going to be the most in-shape she’d ever been after this stupid investigation was over. Speaking of, she probably shouldn’t be going so fast...at this rate she was gonna need a break soon. What kind of lawyers had to take breaks at crime scenes?

shsliincho-blog

fatal frenzy : playlists for chapter 1, 2 & 3

➤ Listen to Chapter One. ➤ Listen to Chapter Two. ➤ Listen to Chapter Three.

#finally listened through all of these #NICE NICE

Task 15: Temps lié (Investigation w/Tsubaki & Eiji)

"Uh, what do you mean by ‘humans’ exac- you know what, I’ll ask later…"

So they had what was most likely part of Shizuka’s sword in the rolling bin; was she so attached to her weapon that seeing it broken had made her heart fail? No, that still didn’t explain why it was here and her body was all the way back at Central Station.

"I have no clue. I mean, with her being a professional assassin and all, you think it’d be really hard to break. Gah, even the evidence we find just confuses me more! It’s like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces are the wrong shape."

Seeing as how there were only a few restaurants in Electrum Station, and Tsubaki had just checked one, Naomi decided to enter the Electrum Bakery - after all, it was the one closest to the connector, so maybe whoever she’d seen pushing that object had hidden in there. Once inside, she looked behind the tables and on top of the surfaces.

Oh yes, they found something! Now, they had not only a useless crutch but a useless crutch and the blade of a sword! They yanked the blade out of the bin carefully, inspecting it thoroughly, then skittered off to the rest of the team. After catching up with their super tight detective group, with an intense bravado, Ei puffed their chest and looked terribly excited with what they found. They probably already had cuts from just holding the bit of the sword.

"Hey heeeey!! I found a bladey thingum! Like, a sword’s but the swordy grabby bitteroonie isn’t there. I found it!"

As Tsubaki mentioned of she who shall not be named, their proud stance was reduced to a pouty face and (very carefully) crossed arms. Right. Her. The one who didn’t want to call them by their own damn name. This was why she got offed, wasn’t it? Mother Nature thought that it was incredibly disrespectful to treat her messenger that way and got rid of her. That’s exactly what happened.

"Pssh. Whatever. This’ll all make sense later. It’s gotta. With someone like me on th’ side, things’ll hafta work out. They gotta.”

They stop in their tracks, letting the two walk off. After placing the blade they absolutely must bring with them until that moment by the court, they ran off to check the unisex bathrooms, no mirror, sink, and stall was left unsearched. Everything had to be investigated 100%!

Thinking that the other two had the restaurants covered, they wandered around the gilded court, then sat on the floor, staring up at the windowed ceiling. The sunlight, whether it was real or not, felt nice on their skin. It just made the place feel less stuffy and more… open, in a good way.

#response #naomi #eiji #chapter 4 #chapter 4 investigation #i speak

Huh. Two clean plates on a countertop...they didn't seem that important, but if she was focusing on them, and everything else looked really tidy, then maybe it actually was? When was the last time she'd been in here, had she seen them then, maybe it had something to do with the killer...ugh. She put out a hand, automatically, to stack them and put them away, only to draw back at the last second. She really shouldn't mess with anything while a crime scene was going on. ...Aside from the crutch she was now carrying, probably. There were exceptions to every rule.

If anything, the dishes just made her more convinced to check everything in the restaurant. Slowly she made a circuit of the dining section and then the kitchen section, looking in cabinets, fridges and freezers and checking out all the appliances the place had to offer. Again, while she worked mostly on autopilot, her thoughts drifted to the people stuck on the other side of the whole station thanks to the train. Who would have done something like that and why? Like Naomi said, nothing they found made any sense.

Should she find anything, she'd call out to Naomi who at that point seemed to be nearest. They probably should be staying together more than they were, even at the expense of their speed--that was the point of investigating in groups, wasn't it, making sure no one was tampering with anything? Trusting in other people was a lot harder now that their numbers were so small. This section had way too many stores and areas to check out, whereas Central was just...a big mostly empty circle. Would they actually end up finding everything important by the time Monobear called for the trial to start?

"...I'm sick of doing this," she mumbled to herself. "I hate it."

Task 15: Temps lié (Investigation w/Tsubaki & Eiji)

A slight chill went down Naomi’s spine when Tsubaki showed her the dented crutch. She wanted to say she didn’t recognize it, but heck, it would’ve looked just like the others without the dent. Had one of the ones she was using been swapped out, then? Was someone trying to incriminate her?

"I…tch. I never knew there were more than two, although I guess it makes sense that there would be spares…but no, I haven’t done anything with my crutches to get them dented like that. Maybe someone else used it; I didn’t see anyone take something that big out of the nurse’s office, though. It coulda happened while I was asleep, or…"

She bit her lip, growing increasingly unnerved by the second. Why wouldn’t Monobear lie to them? He clearly enjoyed seeing them die in agonizing ways. However, that also felt too easy. Which meant they’d have to keep suspecting their classmates - and watch another one of them be executed.

Since her search of the phone booths hadn’t turned anything up, the only other place she could think to investigate was Electrum Station. And even if Tsubaki hadn’t outright said she suspected the crutch of being linked to Haruo’s death, it probably wasn’t a good idea to keep anything hidden from her or Ei now.

"…I did leave the nurse’s station last night. There was someone I couldn’t see, pushing something pretty big towards Electrum Station - obviously, what with me hobbling around at half my usual speed, I couldn’t catch up with ‘em. I was planning to go down there in the morning and look around a bit, but now…we should probably check around there together."

On the way through the Golden Connector, she kept an eye on the floor, in case whoever had come this way dropped something.

Not expecting Naomi to suddenly start moving so quickly, Ei hopped in their spot. That didn’t scare them, no! They’ve seen stranger things. They were merely surprised. Only slightly. impressive for a human… Then again, they did look up to her for a reason. Did.

Ei… skipped? Ei skipped to catch up with the girl, their eyes frantically switching around, as if somebody would jump out of the shadows and stab them. Highly unlikely but you can never be too sure.

"Weeeeks!? ‘s so loooong! Humans’ll take as long as heck t’ heal, huh? Not that I care. ‘m not worryin’ ‘bout anyone!”

They huffed as childishly as ever, checking the file yet again, almost hoping for new information to pop up. Monobear had to have a change of heart… or… get one? No, not important. Prompted with a single thought, outrageous and impossible ideas filled their head. They weren’t ridiculous to the vagabond though. All were equally plausible. But before they could spill any of them, Naomi mentioned the heart problem.

"Ehh… Who knows, who knows? Monobear likes seein’ us gettin’ all riled up ‘n frustrated, y’know? We’re clueless!!"

Ei ducked around the area, moving around non-stop. Seeing as how Naomi had the phone booths, they nodded in her direction with a laugh and ran off to the other side of the hall, heading towards the garbage disposal. There, they peek into each of the bins, not expecting to find anything but garbage honestly. It was worth a try, right?

They don’t spend too much time there, dashing back at the sight of another person.

"Haaaaiiyaaaah! I’m heeeereeee!!"

Just… in time?

They spun in place, ready to contribute what little to no evidence they have… But, unfortunately, somebody else was speaking. To cut in would only slow them down. Nobody needed that.

"Huh! ‘s weird. Whatcha say that time’d be?"

#response #eiji #naomi #chapter 4 #chapter 4 investigation #i speak #relatively quick okay okay

Some strange person pushing something big towards Electrum...in the middle of the night. A weird event normally, but on the night of the murder, especially weird. No matter who it was, the vague time frame was already putting her on edge. Why would anybody...?

"Well...I was asleep here by midnight I think...in front of the phones, I mean, so...it would have to be after that...after...the death took place. Yeah. That's..." She trailed off, apparently lacking the words for just how whatever it was, before her attention was dragged back to Ei at the rolling bins, before she could make it too far in the other direction, and the sword blade inside. ...Ohhhh, no.

"Something big like...that, Han-san? But if they were pushing it the other way, then...how'd it get back here with the sword in there...? This was definitely...Gozen-jukeisha's sword, too, wasn't it? No one else had something like that. But...how'd it get broken anyway?" Too many questions and not enough answers. Not enough guesses she felt comfortable voicing, anyway. Abruptly she continued on their original course back down the hallway to Electrum, leaving Ei to discuss the sword blade more or pick it up if they wanted to, keeping her pilfered crutch hooked over one shoulder unsteadily while she walked.

(Abruptly she felt a wave of anxiety about the train, presumably still stuck at central, and Suzuka and Hiroshi over there, stuck...what if they couldn't figure things out and stayed stuck there until the trial? If they couldn't convene then they wouldn't figure it out, would they? ...Blind hope already failing in favor of pragmatism, she really was a wreck.)

Once all the way through to Electrum with Naomi, she made an awkward eenie-meenie-miney-mo gesture between the restaurants before ducking into Electrum Dim Sum to give it a quick sweep.

Task 15: Temps lié (Investigation w/Tsubaki & Eiji)

Ei scrunched up their nose, unsatisfied with the amount of investigation they’ve done. Hardly anything so far. Tsubaki went off to the phone booths, they heard, so why not catch up with her? Maybe she found something… like the murder weapon! Or a note with the culprit’s name on it? They hoped that this case was going to be a doozy. Get it over and done with! That didn’t seem to be happening though.

"Feelin’ better? Yeah, right, right. Let’s just go already! As long as we’re movin’!!”

They did a quick run on the spot, exaggerating their movements. The silence on Naomi’s part got them questioning a little. Was she that upset about… Haruo’s death? Probably. Humans were confusing.

"Ehh… You ‘n your injury… right… Eff it, have you got anythin’ done?”

The tone in their voice had a hint of a threatening sound to it, despite being genuinely curious.

"Where’s Tsubaki? She still at the booths? That’s what she said, right? I’d go run up ‘n catch up with her. Y’ kinda fine with movin’ around ‘n stuff? Does it hurt? Didja get any rest? I mean, I don’t care or whatever but there are things I wanna know. Do I hafta wait for you?”

Suddenly, they started a game of 20 Questions without informing the other. This was bad but they missed out on so much. Ei expected at least a little bit done by their idol. But the injury didn’t convince them much.

"Diiiid… you read the file? Whatcha think ‘f it?"

Naomi glimpsed Tsubaki moving away from the storefronts out of the corner of her eye, but she was still so stunned by Ei’s transformation that she didn’t notice where the other girl was headed. Still, where else would they look now but the phones?

"Uh…yeah, no, I’m fine. I’ve gotten used to these things, so I can sorta zip around a bit." To demonstrate, she began moving swiftly - for a person on crutches, at least - towards the other end of the mall and the phones; the ‘new’ Ei was much more forward, which would hopefully be helpful as far as the investigation was concerned. "Really, you don’t need to worry about me. As long as I keep an eye on these bandages, I’ll be good as new in a couple of weeks."

"…But I’m not sure about the file. I mean, another heart problem? I don’t think we’d be investigating this if Haruo had really died of natural causes, so does that mean someone poisoned her? Or maybe the bear’s just lying about how she died so we’ll screw up. In any case, since her body’s not here, we can only try to figure out who the culprit might be…Huh?”

Tsubaki turned out not to be at the phones after all, which both confused and worried Naomi. Maybe she’d seen possible evidence elsewhere, and they’d passed her, but what if- no, she’s fine. Quit worrying!

"She’s probably in the restroom. Let’s get started while she catches up." So saying, she began searching the phone booths for any sign of previous use; receivers off the hook, a dropped item, anything like that.

#response #naomi #eiji #chapter 4 #chapter 4 investigation #i speak

She wasn't initially at the phones, but popped up right after they'd gotten there, somehow arriving behind them, and...now hoisting her very own crutch, slightly dented, over her shoulder. The evidence train was now gathering speed and likely to crush one or all of them under its inevitable advancement. She really needed to stop thinking about things in train metaphors.

"I didn't...uh, I mean. Sorry for cutting and running for a little bit. I thought...I found something, and, uh...but I came back, you didn't miss me that much, did you? Or, uh, find anything around here?" She gave the phones a nervous look like she was expecting Monobear to pop out one of the coin slots, but all was quiet and average-ordinary as a murder investigation could be expected. Alright, nothing.

"I, uh. This was...in the nurse's office. It's not yours, right, H...H...an-san?" She wiggled the crutch in Naomi's direction. If the other girl already had two of her own, that'd mean there were spares around, right? But she could've switched hers out for another one, they all looked pretty much the same to her. Except for that dent.

It seemed like she wasn't going to say anything more until she finally sputtered out, in response to the file question probably (she'd only showed up a little bit behind, she caught the gist), the most unrehearsed thing she'd ever said in her life.

"And--w-well--I don't think--she had heart problems, but--heart failure can come from a lot of things, and, I really think that's the case because...I mean. It's done a lot of terrible things, but...it hasn't lied to us before, has it? Not about this stuff? That'd be--cheating, maybe, I...I don't know, if we start disregarding the rules then what do we have to work with at all?"

Task 15: Temps lié (Investigation w/Tsubaki & Eiji)

So they had noticed them. It was hard not to be though, with only the three people in the entire station. Still, they had hoped to be left alone. It was difficult to talk, they found. Their throat was itchy, Eiji wanted to claw at their neck even though they knew that wouldn’t help anything. Not their state, not their safety, not their situation… All they could do was continue gaping at the blocked out sky.

As soon as Naomi addressed them, they winced. A look of hurt flashed onto their face for a second before easing into a troubled thinking expression again. They hung their head, almost as if they were in remorse.

"… Ah. E… Evidence… right… Yeah, I… ‘m fine…"

Eiji opened their mouth to continue but hesitated. Inhale…

"… No, not really… N… Naomi-san… Tsubaki-san too…"

"… Ei… I’m… Ei…”

Exhale…

There wasn’t much need to address Tsubaki but… Getting that off their chest… Saying one of the many things on their mind… It was nice. It made them feel a touch lighter. Of course, there were still the serious matters at hand…

Feeling the tiniest bit better did just the trick. Ei punched the air above their head with an unnecessary leap, letting out a loud uncharacteristic laugh. Things had to keep rolling! More drama, more excitement and more progress. It was time to change things up a little! They bounced in place, bursting with energy just like the day a few back, their voice much louder than before.

"Hey heeeey! Let’s get goin’!! With how long you guys ‘re standin’ about, somebody’ll get bored t’ death. Go, go, let’s get a move on! To the phones, a’ight!?”

Well, somebody had to have the enthusiasm and it didn’t seem like any of them were responsible enough for the role.

"…Shit, you don’t think whoever did this already got their phone call, do ya? I wish there was, like, caller ID on those things…" As much as she was certain that Monobear would filch on his end of the deal, the idea that Haruo’s killer had already been rewarded in a way made Naomi’s hands tighten into fists.

She watched Tsubaki go begin checking the store entrances before turning her attenion back to Eij- well, Ei, as they apparently wanted to be called now. It’d probably be rude to ask why, especially with everything they’d been through lately; maybe it was just a way of trying to leave all the bad memories behind. Actually, she felt a little guilty for going off to find Monobear so quickly after the last trial, since it looked like Ei had been in a pretty bad-

"E-Ei, wha-?!"

Naomi nearly jumped out of her bandages at Ei’s sudden change of mood. No, it just wasn’t that…They looked different somehow, too, as if their eyes were flashing. And for a second, she’d thought their voice sounded a bit like-

No. No way. There might be robotic bears and serial killers running around, but part of Naomi’s brain drew a line. Maybe she could believe in the sorts of things Izumi filmed, haunted houses and all that, but possession? That would take a bit more time, at least. For now, she’d just write it off as a reaction to the stress of their situation.

"U…Uh, good to see you’re feelin’ a bit better. I was, er, thinking - if Tsubaki doesn’t find anything - that the three of us could search Electrum Station next…but I’m totally fine with the phones too!"

#response #naomi #eiji #chapter 4 #chapter 4 investigation #i speak #this is a Struggle

Oh, god, what was happening now. Suddenly it didn't matter so much that there was a dead body--or at the very least, one more body in a series of dead bodies that had been stringing her along on the desensitizing train for weeks at least--were Ei's eyes luminous. The fact that this had happened before still completely escaped her. How did you deal with something like that. Was she simply hallucinating from grief and stress? Maybe...still asleep? Maybe Haruo hadn't actually died at all. No, no, if she actually thought like that she was gonna go nuts, and not the cool kind with eye-flames.

(Maybe--no, she wasn't even going to entertain the possession thing. That interest had fit before she came here, but after seeing so many people die and nothing happen after, no vengeful spirits except for maybe Nomura, one anecdote she'd almost forgotten about by now...it just seemed like a silly kiddish thing.)

With the storefronts showing nothing interesting, but the thought of delving into Electrum right now apparently too weird a prospect to bother turning right around and going straight back, she paused in front of the nurse's office at the end of the long hallway rather than going all the way to the phones. She could see everything from here, probably. The same place she'd come from.

"...Eeehhh, Ei-kun...?" Maybe...it was just them that was stressed? She couldn't imagine any kind of murder investigation where this kind of weird upbeat attitude (bored to death, what a horrible thing to say), but...everyone coped differently, she supposed? If it wasn't hurting anybody, then...it was fine. Ish.

Apparently forgetting her own game plan in lieu of being near some place, not trying that hard to make it seem like she wasn't running away, she ducked into the nurse's office, just for a quick look around--it wasn't like she suspected Naomi, but she just had a bad feeling. On top of about a billion other bad feelings.

Task 15: Temps lié (Investigation w/Tsubaki & Eiji)

Surprisingly, they were awake. Almost wide awake, at that.

Eiji had been standing at the platform of the less populated station, staring up at the ceiling. They hadn’t moved. Not an inch. They had been standing there since the announcement. They shuddered to themself, the familiar wave of regret returned once more. Although, this time they weren’t as… melancholic.

"…….."

They snapped out of their eerily silent trance as voices slowly made their way through the almost empty station and into their ears. Eiji didn’t bother turning around and, instead, plopped onto the floor, then checked the file details… Only to be even more frustrated with themself.

"… Could I ‘ve…?"

The florist shook their head softly, making sure not to mess up their hair any further. Eiji read through the file again and again, eyes blank and brows furrowed. The words just didn’t stay in their head. Everything about it puzzled them. There weren’t a lot of things that could cause heart failure… At least, as far as they know. They fell quiet again, letting the only other people in the station talk things through, they needed to organize themself first.

Naomi nodded, getting to her feet when Tsubaki approached.

"Of course. That’s why I was waiting…L-Let’s get to work, I guess." It was then that she finally noticed Eiji sitting off in the distance. "Oh, and Eiji’s here too. We should probably come up with some kind of game plan for investigating." Beckoning for Tsubaki to follow, she started towards the unmoving flower vagabond.

Again and again, she remembered the sight of a fleeing shadow. Could it have been Tsubaki or Eiji? The girl she had poured out her biggest regret to, and one of her biggest fans - she didn’t want to suspect either of them. But if the culprit was in this small group, it would be easy for them to sabotage the investigation. Expecting that someone would be willing to let themselves die, like Takumi had, was unrealistic, and there were other lives at stake…

She decided to keep an eye on both of them for now, and hold her tongue until she could be certain.

"…Hey, Eiji. You alright? We need to put our heads together if we want to start finding any evidence. I’m kinda strapped for ideas as usual, though…"

#response #naomi #eiji #chapter 4 #chapter 4 investigation #i speak #the investigative train is off to a slow start i'm sorry

Getting to work...with her unshaking deadened expression, she followed Naomi like a puppet controlled by somebody that no one else could see. Alright...a bigger group meant...more eyes looking over the same things, right? They'd surely find the person responsible in no time. Maybe splitting up would be faster, but...the thought of any of them wandering off alone, especially her, was too much. She'd investigated with Naomi before, when it was Takumi who'd killed, and she seemed like...a good person to work with, in a pinch. Dependable. Trustworthy. And Eiji was a friend.

"We could..." She didn't particularly want to volunteer a place, but she also had to get the ball rolling somehow, or they'd just stagnate in here until the trial and help nothing. "Go back...over to the phones? That would have been...important...this time around, right?"

Nervously, like she was expecting either of them to tell her that was a terrible idea, she took a few small steps in the direction of that end of the hallway, giving the two of them a look over her shoulder. She wanted to say something comforting and kind, but...that whole impulse was all deadened. Now was the time to be productive, not nice. Apparently making a snap decision, she started walking with a decided destination in mind, scanning every storefront she passed for recent signs of entry, but not looking like she expected to find anything so obvious.

autistic-girl-academic

Dev: also I want the ff students to do this Dev: http://lenw130.tumblr.com/post/110485428923 Edlyn: DO A DANCE ROUTINE IN THE WALKWAY BETWEEN GOLD AND ELECTRUM King of Games: OH YEAH King of Games: THE TUNNEL

when you and the team are stuck in electrum station for 13 hours

an attempt was made. sorta (but not at scenery cause lol nah). i apologize to tora cause you can see where i got rushed towards the end and super-sketchy. also i wanna do a couple more poses from that vid with some of the other female students. idk fatal-frenzy au where everyone is friends and does dumb shit like this but tora is still embarrassed and gay.

#friend art #selfie

Task 15: Temps lié (Investigation w/Tsubaki & Eiji)

If someone with two personalities was murdered, was it the same as two lives being lost? Haruo and Shizuka…Naomi had spent most of the time she knew them being annoyed by one, and somewhat awestruck by the other. Part of her wondered how many more secrets they’d taken to the grave.

Sitting in the center of the Gold Station mall, she poured over the Monobear File and ground her teeth in frustration.

"You gotta be kidding me…"

A specific detail of the murder had already shaken her - the cause of death. Heart failure taking the life of a serial killer? Of course, she doubted anyone would have taken on someone with Shizuka’s skills in a fight, and maybe Haruo had had a medical condition like Fukumi…but overall, it just felt fishy. Not to mention that the lack of evidence such as wounds or a murder weapon made things much harder for her to figure out.

She tucked her transit pass away and let out a sigh. Unsurprisingly, the bear had separated them once again by stranding the train in Central Station. She’d decided to wait for whatever other students had been left here before investigating, but her gaze kept wandering in the direction of the connector to Electrum Station.

"…Damn it. If I hadn’t fucked up before…"

#response #naomi #chapter 4 #chapter 4 investigation #i speak

Tsubaki had only just woken up for the announcement, and it showed. She barely even looked conscious now as she stumbled in Naomi's general direction, scrubbing at her eyes with an overlong sleeve and wearing the expression of a confused child. Her card key was still tucked away in a pocket, unread--she didn't want to see the details right now. It was bad enough that this had happened again.

With unsteady steps like she was expecting the floor to fall out from under her any second now, she paused at the center of the mall, hovering nervously over the first person she'd come across. Even more so than before, when she'd been forced to take stock of their depleted numbers, the mall felt so empty and huge around them.

"...Han-chan." It wasn't quite a hello, but...that kind of sounded like what she was going for. There was a certain amount of energy required for pleasantries at this point, and she wasn't there. Not only that, but her voice sounded so thin and breathless. Naomi might have had to read her lips to tell that she was talking at all. "Can I...come with you. When you look around."

It was pretty obvious that this wasn't a question you could answer no to. Her eyes had already gotten even more unfocused, and she might have been running on autopilot. "I don't...wanna...go by myself."

youskateoryoudie-blog

•́௰•̀ ………

#friend art

bench trial | task xxiv | eiji

Ei couldn’t move too much, a dull feeling continuing to linger in their torso and below, even a bit in their arms. If they were to describe it, they would say… painfully numb, despite that being physically impossible. It was an unnatural sensation, one they’d have to get more used to. The dramatic reveal of their… other self tuckered them our. Back to plain ol’ Eiji… for who knows how long.

They weren’t very good with people but it was obvious that the motive impacted her, although they were unsure how much she was affected… Thinking that they might have been a bother, Eiji looked down at the floor sullenly. She might have wanted some time to herself… or with whoever was on the other line. They could only wonder who it could be.

They immediately wanted to apologize but having their hair touched was comforting. Almost too comforting, it reminded them to much happier times. Safer times too.

"H… S-Sorry…"

While Tsubaki spoke softly, Eiji stared blankly at their hand, attempting to close and open it, over and over again. Instead, their fingers curled in slightly. Too tired to care. It really was defeat. They would have accepted it as simply as that but… it didn’t feel right. Not after their loud comeback. The fire might have been put out but the ashes could still be lit!

A small spark inside them made them feel warmer. Whether that was with or without the help of Tsubaki, it didn’t matter. Eiji blinked a few times, then gazed up at their friend.

"… They’re… okay. I’m sure th… they are… yeah…"

They nodded once, hands trembling for a second before thrusting their body off the ground and upright. Their legs were still in a weird buzz, so they pushed and turned themself a bit to face Tsubaki properly.

"Happier… I… don’t… uhh… don’t know where to start… with that… Do you mind if… you do, Sugaw… Tsubaki-san…?"

#groans why did reblog as text have to kick the bucket #first world problems #i speak #chapter 4 #response #eiji

She always liked being close to people. Honestly, she probably acted a little more clingy than she should, a little more infantilizing in her reassurance, but she meant well. More than anything she just picked up on the moods of people around her, so if Eiji wasn't going to tap out just yet, she could at least put on a brave face too. Her new smile seemed much more honest--at least without the sense that she was only smiling to keep from screaming. The time for that had passed, probably.

"...No sorries, okay? Things are bad right now and we all deal with it differently and the only wrong way to go about it is...losing hope. So as long as we're still working for a happier ending then we're all doing okay." The last sentence tailed away, not uncertain, but more like she'd forgotten she was talking to someone. It didn't last, though. It was hard not to be aware of everything around you in a place like this.

As for telling her own happy story, though...everything she could imagine felt about as distant as a fairy tale. It was impossible to judge how long they'd been in here now. Maybe years and holidays and birthdays and seasons had gone by without them noticing. She pursed her lips in concentration. Surely she had something in here that didn't involve creepy train stations.

"...Ah, wait, I got something! The birth of the lawyer duo. Pretty sure I know that one better than the back of my hand. And that's...pretty much the happiest thing I've got, I think. That sound okay to you? Or maybe just boring." Despite everything, she snickered and palpably relaxed. At least she could avoid jumping at random sounds for the time being. Focus on the positive. "Since everybody oooobviously wants to know what Suzu-chan was like in Junior High."

bench trial | task xxiv | eiji

"…so you should drop by soon! I’ve been waiting to hear aaaallllllll of your little adventures. Ohohoh, you already know that, I always want to listen to your stories… You’re hardly ever home in the first place, I can’t help but miss you! I hope y—"

Before Ei even finished listening to the rest of the message, they choked out words that they would hardly ever even think about saying out loud.

"I-I miss you too!!"

Those words were just wasted air in the end. They couldn’t focus on the rest of the words, their heavy breathing was the only thing they could hear. Ei couldn’t bare it, just thinking about life before this made them upset, let alone getting a reminder from an important person.

"…Stay safe, okay? I’ll talk to you again soon."

Before they knew it, the person on the other side had finished talking.

"H-Hey! Don’t— No, h-how are y—”

Click!

Slowly, the gap between their ear and the phone grew, their grip becoming looser and their body weaker. It was as if all the riled up energy from before was washed away with a voice, just like that. They were still so weak. Almost all of the motives had stressed them out to some degree but this one… was definitely too much. They were naive to think that changing their act would stop them from being like this.

Their vision began to blur as they fell back and hit the ground, not making a single reaction. They collapsed once more, just like they had been after the first trial. It was dark and cold all over again. The only difference this time was the lost faith in… everything, really.

Time passed by quickly for them, painfully long for others. Ei snapped out of it and sat up quickly, checking their surroundings… then remembering what had just happened, before lying back down again. This was the end. Either someone was out to get them or they were all going to sit in the same area for the next call and the next and so on… until the former option happens.

Ei blinked slowly, then rolled to their side and spotting Tsubaki. It really was just like the mishap after the first trial… but with a darker turn. They didn’t move. They called out from where they were, voice hoarse and tired.

"…….. S… Su… Sugawara-san…"

#response #eiji #chapter 4 #i speak

She was still so focused on hearing a friendly voice from the phone that when she heard Ei, as different as they sounded from anyone in her family, she automatically reached out for the booth again before realizing she wasn't alone. Her fingers curled back into a fist and a pained grimace crossed her face before she could even compose herself long enough to look over. Performing like a trained animal. Pathetic. (She blindly felt for her glasses in her lap, and when she slid them on again, the world seemed just a little bit less clear.)

"...Hey, K...Ei-kun." The time for last names had passed, apparently. If they weren't close enough to drop all pretenses of formality after all this, friendship as a concept was a lie. More immediately noticeable was her tone--usually projecting, just-a-litte-bit-too-loud, radiating fervor, now her volume never rose above a flat whisper, like she was trying to ration the air in her lungs. Her teeth might have been gritted to keep herself from screaming behind her punchdrunk hazy smile. Moving slowly, not standing, she inched in Ei's direction across the floor until she was at their side, leaning over them. Safe, just drained.

"It's gonna be okay." Like a reflex, like Eiji was some small hypoallergenic animal rather than an equally drained person, she smoothed their hair (untied and kind of frizzly and crownless now, the only indication to her of any massive personality upheavals recently) out of their face, keeping her touches light. Like pulling a piece of paper out of a file, she recalled the aftermath of the first trial as well (back in that time where she actually believed no one else would die)--"I miss her a lot… I don’t… have any other relatives that would… uhh… talk to me… The way she would, I mean…" How many people had gotten calls from kindly grandmothers, anyway? Now probably wasn't the time to ask.

"It's not...like a threat this time. It's a good thing. We all miss somebody right now, but...they're okay now, right?" There wasn't a unsure tone in her voice. The right was more a push for a response than anything that needed a question mark. "They're okay. And we're okay. Can you sit up a little bit?" Nothing dirtier than a train station floor, right? Somehow just sitting felt more okay than laying down. Laying down was...defeat. She might have been jumping at imagined sounds but if they were both going to stay here, at least she was trying.

"We could talk about...happier things. Good memories."

bench trial | task xxiv | open

Maybe she was just too open to suggestion at this point. Maybe this was the first of Monobear's motives that had actually made her viscerally upset. The dark could have been dealt with, and the cold wasn't so bad, and this should have been a reward already, but it felt more like a punishment than she could explain. But for whatever reason, when he claimed that more calls would be coming, she had to resolve to herself not to move from that spot.

Hearing her grandmother on the other end of the line, voice smooth and calm and making her sound twenty years younger than she was, had been almost surreal for the first few words. Like after a whole life of hearing that voice every day, she'd almost forgotten it. Tsubaki could see the little wizened mouth forming every word, smell the natural floral perfume she wore, subtle enough to be almost unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it. The hand on the receiver shook.

"...but really, I just wanted to tell you how happy I am to see you getting the recognition you deserve for this. You'll change the whole world around you, mark my words. Oh, I'm rambling, aren't I? You have better things to do than listen to your old grandma. Well, I'll let you go now--tell Suzuka-chan I said hello, alright? Bye-bye, now!"

Now, hours later, sitting cross-legged on the floor and facing the phone booth like a sentry, she was still trembling and wiping away residual tears. That voice had definitely been her grandmother's voice, and that, at least, was no trick of the bear's. But asking them to kill just to get one call outside--it was like the newspaper all over again. It was only there to destabilize them and make them question everything. Even so...every few minutes, she thought she heard a phone start to ring, and every time she was halfway to her feet before she noticed it was in her imagination. If this was bait, then she was performing like a trained animal anyway. She sighed and took off her glasses to rub her eyes, mumbling to herself as though she was the only person there.

"...I wanna go home."

#ff open #chapter 4 #i speak

deposition | event II | naomi

The shoebox was small - it might have held a pair of children’s shoes at one time, but now it was light, and there was only a faint sound of something bumping around as Tsubaki carried it back to the nurse’s office in Gold Station. (Hey, unless she was blind and deaf, she was going to casually notice these things. It wasn’t spying at all. Don’t worry, Tsubaki!)

Naomi had started fidgeting almost as soon as the other girl left. There was no reason to think Tsubaki would steal her transit pass - not until another motive was announced, anyway - but what if something else happened? What if she got mugged there or on the way back, or Monobear had destroyed the box as another way of punishing her, or-

This is why I couldn’t stand the hospital, she thought, sighing and rubbing her temples. There were a million worst-case scenarios, each more horrifying than the last.

So when Tsubaki did reappear with the box in hand, she was excited enough that she didn’t even mind turning and reaching out a bit to take it. Perhaps too excited, as she ended up fumbling it and dropping it to the floor.

"Ah-!"

Her frantic swipe for the lid may have seemed a bit odd, as the revealed contents of the box didn’t include anything fragile or embarrassing. Instead, there was just a pair of pink hair ribbons - the sort Naomi always wore, although these were somewhat faded - and a photograph.

The photograph was of a little girl and a woman, both with the same lavender hair and eyes. The girl, who looked to be about 8 or 9 years old, proudly held up a tutu and tiny ballet slippers. The woman had one arm extended, holding the camera, and was hugging the girl to her side with the other. Written at the bottom of the photo were the words: Naomi’s first lesson. Good luck!

"…"

Even though it was upside-down from her point of view, Naomi felt that the picture was staring right into her eyes. She wasn’t prepared. Before she could stop herself, her lip had begun to quiver, and she put a hand over her face as the tears started.

#response #naomi #chapter 4 #i speak #uuuuh a little short i guess but i wanna see more naomi. wiggles furiously

Tsubaki didn't mean to let the box drop--in fact, when it fell, she made a clumsy grab for it too, but it fell regardless of their joint efforts and burst open on the floor. She was just about to start frantically apologizing for breaking something that was obviously very important (even though this, at least, definitely wasn't her fault), when...well, she couldn't help but look, and the only thing she saw was the ribbons and the photograph. Very unbreakable.

Maybe she shouldn't have thought only, because it was obviously important--not just because Naomi had asked her to bring it, but because the minute she saw the contents she burst into tears. Ohhhh no. Maybe this actually wasn't a good idea. Maybe she messed up and she was intruding on a heartrending family moment--because hair like that had to be genetic--and she felt like she would rather dissolve into a pudding and wash away down a drain than be here, making this worse.

She didn't dissolve into a pudding, but not for lack of trying. Instead, leaving the open box on the floor, she stepped carefully over it and wrapped an arm around Naomi's shoulders instead. Maybe all bad things couldn't be solved with hugging (such as explosion-damaged legs, or mutual killing) but that didn't mean she was going to give up yet.

"...I'm really sorry. You must miss her a lot, huh?" It was a wild shot in the dark, but even if the person in the picture was still okay outside the station, there was still plenty of reason to miss somebody. They'd been here alone and afraid long enough.

injunction | task xxiii | hiroshi

shslgood-deeds-blog

As Hiroshi wandered aimlessly through Gold station, glancing about at each storefront without much interest, taking mental notes on which ones he’d perhaps even consider investigating, he was suddenly knocked out of his preoccupation with the new area by another loud noise. Fearing the worst, Hiroshi did an about-face, quickly heading towards the source of the crash. Before he entered the store from which the noise emanated from, he realized that it was the news stand.

"Hey! Are you alright in the— Mmpfh?!" Hiroshi called out as he gingerly stepped into the store only to be greeted with a page of newsprint to the face. Nearly slipping on glossy magazines scattered about the floor and falling over a tipped over rack in his confusion, many disgruntled and strangled screams escaped Hiroshi as he soon found himself crashing to the floor himself with a loud crash.

"O-ow ow ow ow…"

Nursing the back of his head as he tore away the newspaper from his face, sputtering all the while, Hiroshi winced as he slowly brought himself up to a sitting position as he gathered himself together, dusting off many a stray page.

"What’s with this mess—" He grumbled before he turned to see Tsubaki, too focused in her reading to even possibly notice the chaos and disarray around her. Pausing for a second, Hiroshi turned around to look about the ground searching for another copy of whatever it was that Tsubaki had her nose in. Finding another copy of the paper, neatly folded and on top of a stack of ones that looked to be both identical in material and content. Opening up the pages, Hiroshi scanned through each of them absent mindedly… Until he got to an article on Hope’s Peak Academy. And not just any kind of article… The article in question spoke of none other than the Good Samaritan himself.

"H-huh? Wait, what? Reserve… Reserve Course Alliance? Reserve Course Students…?? What’s a Reserve Course Student?"

Turning his confused gaze to Tsubaki’s as he searched her face in hopes for an answer. “This doesn’t make any sense… I don’t remember doing anything like this at all, hell I didn’t even go to Hope’s Peak yet, this doesn’t……. Huh?”

Staring down at the article in disbelief, Hiroshi’s gaze clouded over as the information he’d just obtained failed to compute with the information he knew to be fact. “This— this has got to be a lie. Monokuma’s just trying to fuck with us…”

But why. Why would that bear do such? The answer escaped him… But if it wasn’t that bear’s doing, what else could it be?